diff --git a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..898b82c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+name: NPM Publish
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [closed]
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    # Only run if the PR was merged (not just closed) and has the version-bump label
+    if: github.event.pull_request.merged == true && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'version-bump')
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: main  # Ensure we're on main branch
+      
+      - name: Setup Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '20'
+          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
+      
+      - name: Install Bun
+        uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@v1
+        with:
+          bun-version: latest
+      
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: bun install
+      
+      - name: Run linting
+        run: bun run lint
+      
+      - name: Build
+        run: bun run build
+      
+      - name: Publish to NPM
+        run: npm publish
+        env:
+          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }} 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index 7eba9a6..6b52a24 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-name: Publish Package
+name: Version Bump
 
 on:
   push:
@@ -6,12 +6,13 @@ on:
       - main
 
 jobs:
-  publish:
+  version-bump:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0  # Required for version bumping
+          ssh-key: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_KEY }}  # Use deploy key to bypass branch protection
       
       - name: Setup Git
         run: |
@@ -38,34 +39,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build
         run: bun run build
       
-      - name: Bump version and create PR
+      - name: Bump version and push
         run: |
-          git remote set-url origin https://x-access-token:${GITHUB_TOKEN}@github.com/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git
-          # Create a new branch for the version bump
-          BRANCH_NAME="chore/bump-version-$(date +%s)"
-          git checkout -b $BRANCH_NAME
+          # Use SSH URL for the repository
+          git remote set-url origin git@github.com:${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git
           # Bump version
           npm version patch -m "chore: bump version to %s [skip ci]"
-          # Push the new branch
-          git push origin $BRANCH_NAME
-          # Create PR using GitHub CLI
-          gh pr create \
-            --title "chore: bump version" \
-            --body "Automated version bump" \
-            --base main \
-            --head $BRANCH_NAME
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          GITHUB_CLI_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      
-      - name: Setup GitHub CLI
-        run: |
-          type -p curl >/dev/null || (sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl -y)
-          curl -fsSL https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg | sudo dd of=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg \
-          && sudo chmod go+r /usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg \
-          && echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null \
-          && sudo apt update \
-          && sudo apt install gh -y
+          # Push directly to main
+          git push origin HEAD:main --tags
       
       - name: Publish to NPM
         run: npm publish
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3c82f9a..1e9534f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@onkernel/create-kernel-app",
-  "version": "0.1.7",
+  "version": "0.1.8",
   "description": "Create Kernel sample applications",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "type": "module",